Pokemon Black and White mark the beginning of the 5th generation of Pokemon game series and were released in September 2010 in Japan, and March 2011 in Europe and the US. These games are widely anticipated by Pokemon fans for the many new features they provide. This guide seeks to give you a comprehensive overview of those features as well as show you how to get through the game while providing helpful tips and advice.

If you would like to contribute to this guide, please go to the contact information section and notify me through one of those methods.

Handheld Pokemon games usually follow a pretty standard set of traditions, but each new generation adds several new features that expands upon the previous games in the franchise. Here are some of the new features you can expect:

New region called Unova, which is based off of New York and not a region from Japan like previous regions.

Older player characters. While characters from past games were stated to be 10 years old, the characters in these games are in their teenage years.

First female Pokemon Professor in the games.

A new antagonist team named Team Plasma.

Two new battle modes - Three vs. Three and Rotational Battles.

Seasons in the game, which change every month and affect where Pokemon appear, as well as accessibility to some areas of the game.

The ability to battle with random opponents on Wi-Fi without a Friend Code.

Pokemon Entraink allows other people to visit you in-game.

The Dream World feature which lets you send Pokemon from your games to a website where you can get items and meet other Pokemon. You can bring the Pokemon you meet here back into your own game.

Pokemon Musicals, which are similar to Pokemon Contests, but not nearly as competitive and do not involve performing with moves.

Sprites have fluid animations that move during the entire battle, as well as shadows. Also back sprites now show the Pokemon's full body.

Which game should you get if you're not getting both? These is a questions players ask themselves every time a new generation of games come out. In previous generations, the only major differences were the Pokemon you can encounter. In Black/White there are now more version differences than ever.

VERSION EXCLUSIVE POKEMON

Black only - Pre-National Dex

White only - Pre-National Dex

Cottonee - Grass

Petilil - Grass

Whimsicott - Grass

Lilligant - Grass

Gothita - Psychic

Solosis - Psychic

Gothorita - Psychic

Duosion - Psychic

Gothitelle - Psychic

Reuniclus - Psychic

Vullaby - Dark/Flying

Rufflet - Normal/Flying

Mandibuzz - Dark/Flying

Braviary - Normal/Flying

Tornadus - Flying

Thundurus - Electric/Flying

Reshiram - Dragon/Fire

Zekrom - Dragon/Electric

Black only - National Dex

White only - National Dex

Weedle - Bug/Poison

Caterpie - Bug

Kakuna - Bug/Poison

Metapod - Bug

Beedrill - Bug/Poison

Butterfree - Bug/Flying

Paras - Bug/Grass

Shroomish - Grass

Parasect - Bug/Grass

Breloom - Grass/Fighting

Murkrow - Dark/Flying

Misdreavus - Ghost

Honchkrow - Dark/Flying

Mismagius - Ghost

Houndour - Dark/Fire

Poochyena - Dark

Houndoom - Dark/Fire

Mightyena - Dark

Plusle - Electric

Minun - Electric

Volbeat - Bug

Illumise - Bug

VERSION EXCLUSIVE AREAS

Black has Black City, an industrialized city that has a lot of trainers with powerful 2nd-stage Pokemon that you can battle. It also lets you purchase certain rare items that you can't buy in White.

White has White Forest which allows you to catch wild Pokemon from previous generations that you can't catch in Black. It also has several rare items that you can't find in Black.

VERSION EXCLUSIVE GYM LEADERS

The eighth Gym Leader of Unova depends on which version you have. White will have a young girl named Iris while Black will have an old man named Drayden. Both use the same exact teams though.

VERSION EXCLUSIVE BATTLES

There are certain trainers you can battle in Black that you can't battle in White and vice versa. Also there are certain trainers that will have a different battle style depending on the version. For instance, Black players will encounter more trainers that fight in Rotation Battle mode while White players will find more trainers that fight in Triple Battle mode.

A. There are 156 new Pokemon in the Unova Region, bringing the total number of Pokemon to 649.

Q. Are there any new evolutions/pre-evolutions of old Pokemon?

A. No, absolutely no 5th gen Pokemon are related to Pokemon from previous generations. Even though many Pokemon look similar, like Alomomola and Luvdisc or Emolga and Pachirisu, they share no evolutionary line.

Q. Are there any new types in these games?

A. No, there are no new types. Only the 17 types in previous gens are present.

Q. Can Dream World Abilities be passed down?

A. Yes, as long as the Pokemon with the Dream World Ability is female. The chance of inheriting a Dream World Ability is unknown for now.

Q. How come I can't send a Pokemon from a 4th gen game to Black/White?

A. Pokemon that know an HM move cannot be transferred. Pokemon cannot be holding any items either. Also Spiky-Eared Pichu cannot be transferred.

Q. How come I can't use a Pokemon transfered from a 4th gen game on Random WiFi Battles?

A. You cannot use Pokemon that have moves they can only learn from a TM/Tutor that doesn't exist in Black/White (example: Scizor with Superpower or Azelf with Stealth Rock). This only applies to Random WiFi Battles and not Friend Code Battles.

GOT A QUESTION?

Use the contact information section to contact me and I'll try to answer it to the best of my ability.

You'll see a cutscene of Prof. Juniper walking into your house and then exiting. Inside the house is your player character and another person, your friend and rival Cheren. It isn't long before you are joined by a blonde girl named Bianca. There is a fancy present sitting on the table in front of you, so go ahead and open it!

STARTER SELECTION

Snivy

Type: Grass

Ability: Overgrow

Base Stats: 45 HP, 45 ATK, 55 DEF, 63 SPD, 45 SPATK, 55 SPDEF

Starting Moves: Tackle, Leer

Snivy is the Grass starter, based off of a vine snake. This smug little guy has high Speed and defenses, but mediocre stats in the other areas. Its type is weak against 4 of the 8 Gym Leaders (Fire, Bug, Flying, Ice), resistant against 2 (Electric, Ground), and supereffective against 1 (Ground). It mostly learns Grass and Normal moves, which means it will have trouble versus Steel types.

Tepig

Type: Fire

Ability: Blaze

Base Stats: 63 HP, 65 ATK, 45 DEF, 45 SPD, 45 SPATK, 45 SPDEF

Starting Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip

The Fire starter is a little piggy who excels in HP and Attack, but is somewhat slow. It is the only Unova starter that gains a second type upon evolving. Its evolution, Pignite, becomes Fire/Fighting instead of just Fire. This means it is effective against 3 Gyms (Normal, Bug, Ice), weak against 3 (Water, Ground, Flying), and resistant against 2 (Bug, Ice). Besides Normal, Fire, and eventually Fighting moves, it also learns the the Dark-type Assurance and the Rock-type Head Smash.

Oshawott

Type: Water

Ability: Torrent

Base Stats: 55 HP, 55 ATK, 45 DEF, 45 SPD, 63 SPATK, 45 SPDEF

Starting Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip

Oshawott is the Water starter and based off of a Sea Otter. It's best in Special Attack, but has good HP and Attack as well. Being a Water type, it is supereffective versus 1 Gym (Ground), weak to 2 Gyms (Electric, Grass), and resistant against 1 Gym (Ice). Water and Normal moves are what it usually learns, but its final evolution can learn the powerful Megahorn.

STARTER DIFFICULTY

Snivy is the hardest Starter to use in the game due to its low offensive stats, limited variety of moves, and weakness to several of the gyms in the region. Tepig is the easiest since its type combination and powerful moves can beat down opponents with ease. Oshawott is in between both, but should be noted that it is the only starter that can learn Surf - one of the more useful HM moves in the game.

Which ever starter you choose is up to you. Some people choose based on appearance while others choose based on stats. After you make your selection, your friends will also choose their starters. Bianca will choose the starter that is weak against yours while Cheren will take the one with the type-advantage.

When that's done, Bianca will give you the very first battle of the game.

RIVAL BATTLE

This is an extremely basic battle. You don't have any items, you only have one Pokemon, and you can only choose between two moves. Just spam Tackle. You can use the Defense-lowering move if your opponent seems to have high Defense, but it's better to just go offensive.

After the battle, your room will be completely trashed (though the Wii and plasma TV are conveniently untouched). Cheren is nice enough to heal both of your Pokemon. He will also want to battle you.

RIVAL BATTLE

After the battle, your rivals will leave the room and leave you to do all the clean-up. But you don't have to do any cleaning at all because you have a Mom. Go downstairs to meet her. She will talk to the three of you and then give you a device called the Xtransceiver.

When you resume control, walk out of your house and go visit Bianca's house, which is the one to the left of yours. Watch a short scene and once Bianca exits her house, walk north towards Juniper's Laboratory.

Prof. Juniper will have a brief meeting with the three of you and give you each a Pokedex (which looks like an iPod). You will also get the chance to give your starter a nickname. Don't give it an inappropriate name though, because the game won't let you! When that's done, exit the lab. Your mom is waiting outside and will give you the Town Map. Follow the others to Route 1.

Prof. Juniper will give you the obligatory "How to Catch a Pokemon" demonstration. After that, she will give you 5 Poke Balls so you can catch some Pokemon.

For the Pokemon here, there are a bunch of low-leveled mammals, but surprisingly no beginning bird Pokemon like in every other generation. If you are itching to catch something, a Lillipup is a nice choice since it evolves twice and the final stage has good Attack and defenses. It also has the PickUp ability, meaning free healing items and maybe even a Rare Candy! Patrat isn't as good as Lillipup, though it does get some cool moves like Super Fang. They can't even learn a lot of HM moves like Bidoof can, so they're no good as HM slaves. You'll be seeing plenty of Patrat and its evolution as you play the game so get used to it.

By the way, every now and then, a patch of grass will shake. This usually means there is a wild Pokemon inside and stepping on it will trigger a battle. In this Route, you can encounter Audino. Audino are mediocre Normal types. They have high HP, but bad attacking stats and they don't evolve so their stats won't get better. There's one thing they're really good at though - giving EXP. Anytime you fight an Audino, be sure to beat it so you can gain a bunch of experience points!

Talk to the girl farther up north to get a free Potion. Travel further north and you'll bump into Bianca and Cheren once again. This time, they'll show you how the Xtransceiver works by engaging in a 4-way conversation between the three of you and Professor Juniper. Continue north to the second town.

This is a rather small town with only a few buildings and a PokeCenter. Talk to Juniper and she'll show you some of its features and also ask you to heal your Pokemon. The PokeCenter basically a lot like the ones from Heart Gold/Soul Silver except the PokeMart has been incorporated into it.

As you exit, something is happening that is making people gather around. You'll meet a bunch of people in gray hoods led by a man in a weird robe. These guys are known as Team Plasma and their leader is Ghetsis. He will give a little speech then the Team will leave. The crowd will disperse leaving a guy with a black and white cap.

This guy is simply known as "N". He'll want to check out your Pokemon in a battle, so get ready!

N BATTLE

N

Lv. 7 Purrloin

Prize: 700P

N has the Dark-type cat as his only Pokemon. It only knows Scratch, Growl, and Assist. Assist is useless since it can only use moves from other Pokemon on its team and N has no other Pokemon. This battle shouldn't be hard at all.

After beating N, he'll leave. You can continue to explore the rest of town, though this place is really quite small with only a few buildings. The building up the stairs above the PokeCenter has some musicians When you are done, you can continue on to the next Route.

Right when you get past the gate, you'll get a call from your mom, who promptly rushes over and gives you the Running Shoes. Now you can hold the B button and get to places a lot faster.

This Route has a couple of Poke Balls laying on the ground and when you pick them up, you can get a free item. There are also some trainers who you can battle for EXP. This is the first Route that you can find Purrloin, who you have encountered on N's team. Though they are fast Pokemon, they are also very frail and aren't that powerful.

There isn't much else to do here, so head to the next town. But before you can reach it, Bianca will show up!

RIVAL BATTLE

Bianca has added a Lillipup to her team along with her starter. The puppy's only attacking move is Tackle, though Tackle is stronger this generation and being a Normal type means it will deal more damage. Her starter is next and has learned its first elemental move. Still, this battle is pretty simple especially if you have a Lillipup of your own.

The colorful building to the right of the PokeCenter is the first Gym in Unova. However there is a man with sunglasses blocking the way. You can't enter it for now, so head to the building to the left of the PokeCenter.

Inside is a classroom and at the front of the class is Cheren. Answer "Yes" to his questions and he will battle you.

RIVAL BATTLE

Cheren leads with his starter this time. His starter has an Oran Berry and will use it to restore its health once its HP drops below half. He also has a Purrloin on his team, although it's barely any different than the one from your battle with N. Other than that there isn't much to say about this battle.

After the battle, Cheren will give you 3 Oran Berries, which can be useful for your upcoming Gym battle. A boy with a blue vest in the same room will quiz you on status effects if you talk to him. The questions are easy, but just in case, the answers are Antidote and Awakening. He'll give you a Full Heal as a reward for passing. Head back outside.

There is a nice garden to the west of the city which has a bunch of flowers, hedge sculptures, and a large fountain. There are also some items to find, although most of them are hidden. Also as you walk along the water, you may notice some strange bubbles forming on the surface. These are similar to the shaking grass patches. If you fish or Surf over these bubbles, you can encounter wild Pokemon. But you won't get Surf or a fishing rod for a while, so ignore them for now.

Up ahead is the gateway to Route 3, but the old man standing in front of it won't let you pass since you don't have a Gym Badge. Before you head back to the Gym, visit the area to the east of this city.

There are a couple more trainers here, but the real attraction is the chance to grab a free Pokemon. Talk to the person near the eastern part of this area and you'll get a new Pokemon based on the starter you chose:

Panpour if you chose Snivy

Pansage if you chose Tepig

Pansear if you chose Oshawott

Consider this your second "starter" of the game. Each of these elemental monkeys comes at Level 10 and know Scratch, Leer, Lick, and one other move that matches their type. All three monkeys have identical stats and abilities. They are pretty fast Pokemon although their attacking stats aren't that high even after they evolve. Still you should level it up a bit before you face the first Gym.

There's a lot more to this place, but you can't enter the actual warehouse yet because of a tree blocking your path. You can get to that later. For now go back to the city and you'll see Cilan, one of the Gym Leaders, standing in front of the door. Talk to him and he'll go inside, so follow him in.

This gym is based off of a cafe. Once you enter, the guy with sunglasses will talk to you and give you a Fresh Water, which can be used to restore your Pokemon's health and is more effective than a Potion. From now on, talk to this guy before each Gym battle and he'll give you a Fresh Water for free. What a nice guy!

There is a very basic puzzle in this Gym that tests your knowledge of Pokemon type effectiveness. Look at the symbol on the curtains, then step on the symbol on the floor that would be super effective against it. Fire is super effective against Grass, Grass is super effective against Water, and Water is super effective against Fire. When you make the correct choice, the curtains will open and you can pass through.

When you reach the end, Cilan will introduce two other people - Chili and Cress. They each specialize in a different type, which you can tell by the color of their hair. You need to talk to the person who has the type advantage against your starter Pokemon. For example, if you chose Snivy you need to talk to Chili since he uses Fire. Before you talk to anyone, you could attach the Oran Berries you received from Cheren to your Pokemon to help you in battle. Once you're ready, your first Unova Gym Battle will begin!

GYM LEADER BATTLE

Leader Cilan (if you chose Oshawott)

Lv. 12 Lillipup

Type: Normal

Moves: Bite, Work Up, Odor Sleuth, Helping Hand

Lv. 14 Pansage

Type: Grass

Moves: Vine Whip, Work Up, Lick, Fury Swipes

Leader Chili (if you chose Snivy)

Lv. 12 Lillipup

Type: Normal

Moves: Bite, Work Up, Odor Sleuth, Helping Hand

Lv. 14 Pansear

Type: Fire

Moves: Incinerate, Work Up, Lick, Fury Swipes

Leader Cress (if you chose Tepig)

Lv. 12 Lillipup

Type: Normal

Moves: Bite, Work Up, Odor Sleuth, Helping Hand

Lv. 14 Panpour

Type: Water

Moves: Water Gun, Work Up, Lick, Fury Swipes

Prize: 1680P, Trio Badge, TM83 - Work Up

All three leaders will have a Lillipup to start with. While you've fought many of these dogs before, this one has a new move called "Work Up". This increases the user's Attack and Special Attack by 1 stage. It can be potentially deadly especially since Lillipup already has high Attack. Defeat it before it can boost its stats too much.

Once the dog faints, one of the elemental monkeys will show up depending on which starter you chose. All three monkeys have the same stats and know the same moves except for one. Pansage knows Vine Whip, Panpour knows Water Gun, and Pansear knows a new Fire move called Incinerate. They also know Work Up as well, which can be bad news for you.

For this battle, use your starter against the Lillipup. It shouldn't have much of a problem if it's at least Lv. 10. The monkey will have an advantage against your starter, so switch to your own monkey to beat it.

After winning, you will get your first badge called the Trio Badge as well as the TM for Work Up. This is the first TM you will get in the game. TMs in this generation are inifinitely reusable and Work Up is a pretty good move so teach it to whomever you want. The Badge allows you to use the HM move Cut outside of battle.

Once you go outside Fennel, the Professor's friend, will greet and bring you to her lab. She'll gives you HM01 (Cut), which is one of 6 HMs you will find in this game. HMs work the same way as TMs by teaching your Pokemon a new move, but the annoying thing is that they can't be deleted without the help of a Move Deleter. Still they are required for accessing certain areas in the game, so make room for it. Anyways, Fennel will also show you a special machine. This machine allows you to access the Dream World. But first you need to find something called Dream Mist. Go outside and exit the city to the east.

Now you can finally get rid of that tree that is blocking the door. Have your Pokemon Cut it down so you can enter the building. Before you do, Bianca will come by. As you enter the Warehouse, you'll encounter a floating pink Pokemon called Munna and shortly after that, two Team Plasma Grunts. The Grunts will start beating the Munna, so it's your job to stop them!

Team Plasma Grunt - Lv. 10 Patrat

Team Plasma Grunt - Lv. 10 Purrloin

This battle shouldn't be that hard considering your recent Gym battle. After you beat them, Ghetsis shows up and makes the Grunts go away. Then a Musharna shows up. The Musharna seems to have conjured up illusions of Ghetsis to scare the Grunts away. Fennel will show up too. The two Psychic Pokemon will leave and an item ball will appear in their place. Fennel will grab this item containing the Dream Mist and head back to her lab.

If you want to battle or catch some wild Pokemon, you'll have the oppurtunity to do so in the tall grass near the western side. However the only new Pokemon you will find is a Munna like the one you just rescued. Munna are Psychic types with extremely low Speed, but they make up for it with high HP and Special Attack. If you don't mind moving last in most of your battles, they can be pretty decent Pokemon.

Go back to Fennel's lab and she'll give you the C-Gear while her aide will give you the Pal Pad, which allows you to enter Friend Codes for Wi-Fi features. The C-Gear now fills up your bottom screen and can be turned on or off at any time. When it's on, it will use your DS's Wi-Fi function and allows you to access features such as the Entralink, the Dream World, and various Infrared activities. Now you will be able to continue your journey so head towards Route 3.

There are two daycares here - one for children and one for Pokemon. This is the place you go to when you want to do some breeding or a bit of leveling up for any Pokemon that you drop off. If you talk one of the women in the child daycare, she will heal your Pokemon for free!

We have two new wild Pokemon in the grassy areas on this Route. First up is Pidove, the beginning bird Pokemon of Unova. It evolves twice and is a pretty decent Pokemon in its final stage. However it doesn't learn many good moves so it might be tough to raise. The other Pokemon is Blitzle, the first Electric-type in the game. Its best attribute is its high Speed and decent Attack stat. It also learns some good Electric moves early on which is useful if you want to take down Flying and Water opponents.

Head west from here, but before you can get to far Cheren shows up and demands yet another battle.

RIVAL BATTLE

Cheren has the same Pokemon that he used in your last battle with him, except they're a few levels stronger. Still, there aren't any major surprises or anything. His starter has an Oran Berry like the last time you battled him.

After you beat him, you'll have another brief encounter with two Team Plasma Grunts. Bianca and a little kid were chasing after them because they stole the kid's Pokemon.

Go after them by heading further west until you reach a cave entrance, then talk to Cheren and go inside.

After that battle, another pair of Plasma Grunts will appear and engage in a double battle with you and Cheren.

Team Plasma Grunts - Lv. 12 Patrat, Lv. 12 Patrat

Beat them and they will leave. There isn't much to do in this cave since you don't have Surf yet. You can get TM 46 (Thief) and maybe catch a Woobat or Roggenrola if you want, and maybe even a Drilbur if you're lucky. Drilbur will only appear in shaking piles of dirt, which work in the same way as shaking patches of grass that you use to find Audino. But in some cases, you can also find rare items like Gems if you inspect these mounds. These Gems raise the power of a certain attack type by 50%, so they can be pretty useful even though they disappear after use. You can also find any of the evolutionary stone items - Fire Stone, Water Stone, Shiny Stone, etc.

Woobat is the Unova counterpart of Zubat and shares some similarities such as high Speed. Roggenrola is the Unova version of Geodude and is also similar statwise with low Speed, but high Attack and Defense. Drilbur evolves into Excadrill, which is extremely powerful and one of the best Ground types in the game. When you're done, go back to the place where you met Bianca.

When you get back, they will thank you and the little girl will give you 3 Heal Balls.

Go south and you'll eventually meet Cheren again. He'll tell you that some of the grass is a darker color which means you may encounter two wild Pokemon at once. The Pokemon found here will be at slightly higher levels than in normal grass. You can tell when you'll be in a wild double battle because the battle music will sound slightly different than usual. One important thing to note is that you can't use PokeBalls when two wild Pokemon are on the screen. You must defeat one of them in order to capture the other one.

Continue south and westwards across the bridge. You will eventually come to the gatehouse of the next city.

Cheren is the first person you meet when you enter the city. He'll give you three Chesto Berries before going on his way.

Nacrene City is an old-fashioned kind of city and has a museum as its main attraction and a cafe in the upper left side. It doesn't seem to have any sort of normal residential houses. Every house here is basically a red brick warehouse. There are a few other things to do here.

Version Exclusive Trade - If you enter one of the buildings with stairs on the side, you'll meet a girl on the top floor who will trade you a Cottonee for a Petilil (Black) or a Petilil for a Cottonee (White). This is a good chance to fill up your Pokedex without having to trade over WiFi. You can find wild Petilil or Cottonee in the forest west of this city. The Pokemon you recieve in the trade will be at Level 15. After you make the trade, come back to her house after you beat the game. You will be able to battle the Pokemon you traded her. She will have evolved it and trained it all the way to Lv. 65.

Type-Boosting Item - Two houses to the left of the PokeCenter is a girl with blue hair who will give you a free type boosting item

Miracle Seed - boosts power of Grass moves by 20%

Charcoal - boosts power of Fire moves by 20%

Mystic Water - boosts power of Water moves by 20%

You don't have to choose the one that matches your starter's type. For instance if you chose Snivy, but you wanted to boost your Panpour's moves you can go for the Mystic Water. I suggest you get a Charcoal or a Mystic Water because you can get a free Miracle Seed in forest west of Nacrene.

The warehouse to the left of the PokeCenter has a boy in a vest who will sell you a bunch of Battle Items like X Attack, X Defend, Guard Spec., Dire Hit, etc. Buy some if you want.

The Gym is actually inside the museum so that's where you should go. But suddenly, N appears before you can enter it. You know what this means right? That's right, it's battle time!

N BATTLE

N

Lv. 13 Pidove - Normal/Flying

Lv. 13 Tympole - Water

Lv. 13 Timburr - Fighting

Prize: 1300P

He has three Pokemon now. Pidove and Tympole are both weak to Electric moves, so a Blitzle with Shock Wave will be very helpful here. Timburr is a Fighting type, but Shock Wave or any other special move can still defeat it easily since it has rather low Special Defense.

Inside the museum a guide (who is the Gym Leader's husband) will introduce you to some of the exhibits. Of particular interest is the huge Dragonite skeleton, which is funny because they don't exist in Unova (or perhaps they used to?). There's an Armaldo fossil on the left side and on the right are a set of bones implied to be used by Cubone or Marowak. Towards to back is the entrance to the Gym, which doubles as a library.

Nacrene's Gym specializes in Normal-types. Tepig users will have an easy time since Pignite's Arm Thrust will wreck all of the Pokemon in the Gym. Snivy and Oshawott users should evolve their starters to stand a better chance. You can also catch a Fighting type like Timburr or Sawk at the path to the west of Nacrene City. Also remember to talk to the guy with the sunglasses at the front of the Gym for your free Fresh Water.

The puzzle in this Gym involves reading. Basically you have to get on the stools and read the books. Lenora the Gym Leader has hidden questions inside the books that you will have to answer. Start with the bottom left book for question #1, then go to the bookcase in front of it for your second question. Talk to the scientist in the front and answer yes. You will battle her Herdier. You can then go up and read the book she was reading for the third question. Go to the bottom right bookshelf and read "Sweets for Pokemon" for another memo. Then go to the School Kid and answer yes to her question.

After you defeat the school girl, read the book on that shelf. You'll eventually uncover a switch that makes the bookcase slide over and reveal some steps. Go down these steps to meet Lenora, the Gym Leader.

GYM LEADER BATTLE

Leader Lenora

Lv. 18 Herdier

Type: Normal

Moves: Take Down, Bite, Retaliate, Leer

Lv. 20 Watchog

Type: Normal

Moves: Leer, Hypnosis, Retaliate, Crunch

Prize: 2400P, Basic Badge, TM67 - Retaliate

First up is Herdier, the evolved form of Lillipup. It has the Intimidate ability to lower the Attack of your Pokemon. It also has a powerful Take Down which can take out any of your Pokemon that has low Defense. Her Watchog is even stronger and faster. It has the move called "Retaliate" which doubles in power if a teammate has been KOed the last turn. Factoring in STAB, a Retaliate at full strength has a massive 210 power! It will pretty much always use this move right after Herdier faints which means it will do an enormous amount of damage. To make things worse, it also knows Hypnosis to temporarily disable one of your Pokemon which gives it a couple free turns to attack or lower your Defense with Leer.

Even if you have a Pignite, you shouldn't lead with it since Intimidate will make your physical moves weaker. Furthermore Pignite has rather low Defense so it won't be able to survive many attacks. Use a Pokemon that can weaken Herdier first. A good choice would be Roggenrola, who resists Normal and can hit back with Rock Blast. When it's time to bring your Fighting type out, make sure it has a Chesto Berry attached so that it can instantly recover from Watchog's Hypnosis. Strike it with a Fighting type move and it won't be long before it faints.

Upon your victory, you will be rewarded with your second Badge, which makes all Pokemon up to Lv. 30 obey you, and the TM for Retaliate. Suddenly, Hawes runs up to Lenora with some urgent news. Go outside to see what's going on.

Uh oh, it's Team Plasma again! This time they're interested in the Dragonite skeleton. With ninja-like speed, they steal Dragonite's skull!

Head outside and Team Plasma is nowhere to be found. A new character comes up to Lenora. This is Burgh, the third Gym Leader. Bianca and Cheren also appear. Bianca gives you the Dowsing Machine then the two of them go into the museum. You can actually use Dowsing Machine to find two items hidden in this city. Check the ITEMS section and look for the items that say (hidden). As you walk, the machine will beep and point you towards the direction of the hidden items.

This area had plenty of trainers to battle. If you haven't caught any of the new Fighting types yet, you can do it right now. Out of Timburr, Sawk, and Throh, Sawk is by far the strongest one. However if you have friends to trade with, you can eventually evolve Timburr into Conkeldurr who has the highest Attack of any Fighting-type in the game. Throh isn't a bad Pokemon either. With very high HP and good defenses, Throh is one of the bulkiest Fighting Pokemon in the game.

The area south of here is filled with tall grass and trees mixed with a bunch of puddles. In the southeast area, there's a set of stairs leading up a tall hill filled with some rocks. Note the big rock in the middle. Any Fighting type is needed to interact with the it. You can get a free Star Piece everyday from this rock which you can sell for money.

Speaking of rocks, one of the girls here will give you TM 94 (Rock Smash). This move lets you smash breakable rocks that may be blocking your path in caves and such.

Note the girl dressed in pink standing right in front of the forest entrance. If you talk to her, she will battle you. After you beat her Munna, she will automatically heal your Pokemon and will do it again everytime you talk to her. When you're ready, head into the forest.

You'll meet Burgh here. He's looking for Team Plasma to retrieve the Dragonite skull, and will go off on his own.

Pinwheel Forest is a place filled with Bug and Grass Pokemon. Let's take a look at two Pokemon you've never encountered before - Venipede and Sewaddle. Venipede is a three-stage Bug/Poison Pokemon whose final stage is the fastest Bug-type in all of Unova. The downside is that most of its level-up moves are pretty weak, however its final evolution, Scolipede, can learn Megahorn and is one of the few Bugs that learns Earthquake. Sewaddle is also a three-stage Bug-type. Its final evolution, Leavanny, has good Attack and above average Speed along with strong moves like X-Scissor and Leaf Blade.

This forest also has a version-exclusive Grass type - Cottonee for Black players and Petilil for White players. Petilil is the stronger of the two and has high Special Attack. However its moves are mostly limited to Grass attacks so it will have a lot of trouble against Pokemon that resist Grass. Cottonee is weaker when it comes to offense, but it's faster and focuses more on defensive and status moves.

There are two paths to get through the forest. The first one is the easy way - simply run along the pavement all the way northwards across the bridge until you get to the next gatehouse. It's quick and you won't have to fight any Pokemon, though you will have to battle any trainer that spots you. However the game won't allow you to progress until you've kicked Team Plasma out of here, so take the long way.

Start with the first Plasma Grunt you see off the left side of the path. Beat him and continue left to another Plasma Grunt. There will also be Pokemon Rangers in the forest who will give you a free berry after you beat them. Near the first Pokemon Ranger is a large boulder with moss on top. This is where you can go to evolve Eevee into Leafeon.

Anyways, work your way left and up, battling any trainers (most are hiding under bushes) and picking up any items you want that are off to the side. You will be passing through a log that acts as a bridge/tunnel. Go counterclockwise through the tall grass and up through another log tunnel that takes you to a hill. Fight the Grunt here then go down through the log and head right. There are some pools of water down below with TM 86 (Grass Knot) up the stairs on the ledge if you want it. Otherwise, continue right and up through a log that will take you to a clearing. You will fight the fourth and final Grunt here.

After you beat him, he will surrender the Dragon Skull. Soon an old man will walk up. He is Gorm and is apparently one of the "Seven Sages" of Team Plasma. Burgh and Lenora soon join you. Gorm will disclose a little about Team Plasma's scheme. After the Grunt and sage leave, Burgh will head back to his city and Lenora will give you a Moon Stone as thanks.

Go east, hop off the ledge, and battle any trainers that you haven't for EXP, then exit the forest to the north.